Store merchandising apparatus

Abstract

A merchandising apparatus, specifically a mobile mechandising cart, having one or more wire shelves (or baskets) removably supported thereon. The cart includes a frame having a wheeled U-shaped base and a pair of upright posts fixed to the base and projecting upwardly from adjacent the rear corners thereof. The posts are fixedly connected by a cross brace located adjacent the upper ends thereof. Each post includes a vertically extending strip having a plurality of notches formed inwardly from the free edge thereof. One or more shelves are hooked into the notches so that the shelves extend between the posts while being vertically spaced apart. The shelves are preferably of a wire rod construction and include a pair of substantially horizontally extending rod elements on the back side thereof, which rod elements engage the notches associated with the posts. The shelves preferably have reinforcing members associated therewith which bear against the posts to maintain the individual shelves in a stable position whereby they project outwardly from the posts in a cantilevered fashion.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: 
     
       1. A mobile merchandising cart, comprising: base means;   wheel means mounted on said base means for rollingly supporting said base means on a support surface, such as a floor;   a pair of upright posts fixed to said base means and projecting vertically upwardly therefrom, said posts being substantially parallel and spaced a preselected distance apart;   each post having an elongated vertical mounting member extending longitudinally thereof and projecting frontwardly therefrom toward the front of said cart, said mounting member having a plurality of notches which are uniformly vertically spaced apart and are arranged in a vertical row which extends longitudinally of the post over a substantial portion of the length thereof, each notch being comprised of an upright slot having a closed bottom and a transversely extending slot at the upper end of said upright slot and extending frontwardly therefrom through the frontward edge of said mounting member, the notches in the mounting member of one of said posts each being horizontally aligned with a corresponding slot in the mounting member of the other of said posts;   at least one horizontally elongated shelf extending horizontally between and being removably supported in cantilevered fashion on said pair of posts, said shelf including a substantially vertically extending rear wall and a substantially horizontally extending bottom wall fixedly connected to said rear wall and projecting frontwardly therefrom;   a pair of parallel horizontally extending rods mounted on the rearward side of said rear wall and received within a pair of said notches in each post of said pair of posts, and each rod being sized to be movable through one of said transverse slots and into the corresponding said upright slot of the mounting member of its associated post, said pair of rods projecting rearwardly from the rearward side of said rear wall and being vertically spaced apart a preselected distance substantially corresponding to the vertical spacing between the bottoms of a pair of said upright slots and being received within a pair of said upright slots in the associated mounting member so that said shelf is removably supported on said posts in a cantilevered manner with the frontward edges of said mounting members projecting frontwardly of said rods.   
     
     
       2. A cart according to claim 1, wherein said shelf is of a wire rod construction. 
     
     
       3. A cart according to claim 2, wherein said shelf includes a front wall which projects upwardly from said bottom wall adjacent the front edge thereof, said rear wall projecting upwardly from said bottom wall adjacent the rear edge thereof, whereby said shelf has an upwardly opening channel-shaped configuration. 
     
     
       4. A cart according to claim 2, wherein said base means comprises a substantially U-shaped base having a substantially horizontally extending support beam and a pair of substantially horizontally extending leg members fixed to and extending perpendicularly from the opposite ends of said support beam, and said posts are fixedly connected to and project upwardly from said support beam adjacent the opposite ends thereof. 
     
     
       5. A cart according to claim 4, wherein each post comprises a vertically elongated channel-shaped member, and said mounting member comprises a vertically elongated platelike strip which is fixed to said channel-shaped member and extends longitudinally thereof, said platelike strip having said plurality of vertically spaced notches formed in the front edge thereof. 
     
     
       6. A cart according to claim 4, wherein said base means consists of said U-shaped base. 
     
     
       7. A cart according to claim 1, wherein the rods adjacent one post are integral with corresponding rods adjacent the other post. 
     
     
       8. A cart according to claim 1, wherein said shelf has a vertical rod mounted thereon adjacent each end of said shelf, said vertical rod being disposed rearwardly of its associated pair of horizontal rods and rearwardly of said notches in the adjacent mounting member, said vertical rod being disposed sidewardly of and substantially parallel to the adjacent mounting member to prevent any substantial displacement of the shelf in the longitudinal direction thereof relative to said posts. 
     
     
       9. A cart according to claim 1, wherein said mounting members are sheet-form members which are parallel to each other and are located inwardly of said posts, the rear wall of said shelf is comprised of a plurality of parallel, upright, horizontally spaced rods, the forward edges of said mounting members projecting through the spaces between adjacent pairs of the upright rods defining said rear wall, a pair of vertical reinforcing rods at the opposite ends of the shelf, said reinforcing rods being disposed outwardly of said mounting members and projecting rearwardly of said horizontal rods on the rearward side of said rear wall and bearing against the front sides of said posts, respectively, and a pair of braces mounted on the opposite ends of said shelf outwardly of said reinforcing rods and projecting rearwardly therebeyond into overlapping relationship with the outer sides of the posts, respectively.